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The Wailers (reggae)

 
The Wailers (reggae)

 
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The Wailers (reggae)
 
 
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The Wailers was a ska
Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
, rocksteady
Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that was most popular in Jamaica, starting around 1966, and its reggae successor was established around 1968.The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady"....
, and reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 group formed in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the Capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. It faces a natural harbor protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit which connects Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island....
, Jamaica
Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
 in 1963, consisting of Junior Braithwaite
Junior Braithwaite

Franklin Delano Alexander Braithwaite, better known as Junior Braithwaite was one of the founders of, and the first lead singer of The Wailers ....
, Beverley Kelso
Beverley Kelso

Beverley Kelso is a Jamaican singer. She was a backing vocalist, and one of the founding members of The Wailers . According to Bob Marley's official website both she and Bunny Wailer are the only surviving members of the original Wailers....
, Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, also known as Bunny Livingston , is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh....
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley Jamaican Order of Merit was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands: The Wailers and Bob Marley & the Wailers ....
, Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement....
, and Cherry Smith
Cherry Smith

Cherry Smith was a backing vocalist for the original The Wailers from 1963-1966.According to Bob Marley's official website Bunny Wailer and Beverley Kelso were the only surviving members of the original Wailers until Smith's death....
.

They were called variously The Teenagers, The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers, and finally The Wailers. By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left the band, leaving the trio of Livingston, Marley, and McIntosh.

Some of The Wailers most notable songs were recorded together with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, The Upsetters
The Upsetters

The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae record producer Lee Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am The Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd....
.






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The Wailers was a ska
Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
, rocksteady
Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that was most popular in Jamaica, starting around 1966, and its reggae successor was established around 1968.The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady"....
, and reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 group formed in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the Capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. It faces a natural harbor protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit which connects Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island....
, Jamaica
Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
 in 1963, consisting of Junior Braithwaite
Junior Braithwaite

Franklin Delano Alexander Braithwaite, better known as Junior Braithwaite was one of the founders of, and the first lead singer of The Wailers ....
, Beverley Kelso
Beverley Kelso

Beverley Kelso is a Jamaican singer. She was a backing vocalist, and one of the founding members of The Wailers . According to Bob Marley's official website both she and Bunny Wailer are the only surviving members of the original Wailers....
, Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, also known as Bunny Livingston , is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh....
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley Jamaican Order of Merit was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands: The Wailers and Bob Marley & the Wailers ....
, Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement....
, and Cherry Smith
Cherry Smith

Cherry Smith was a backing vocalist for the original The Wailers from 1963-1966.According to Bob Marley's official website Bunny Wailer and Beverley Kelso were the only surviving members of the original Wailers until Smith's death....
.

They were called variously The Teenagers, The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers, and finally The Wailers. By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left the band, leaving the trio of Livingston, Marley, and McIntosh.

Some of The Wailers most notable songs were recorded together with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, The Upsetters
The Upsetters

The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae record producer Lee Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am The Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd....
. In the early 1970s, The Upsetters members Aston "Family Man" Barrett
Aston Barrett

Aston Francis Barrett , often called "Family Man" or "Fams" for short, is a Jamaican bass guitar player and Rastafari movement.He was one of the Barrett brothers who played with Bob Marley and The Wailers Band and Lee Perry's The Upsetters....
 and his brother Carlton (Carlie) Barrett
Carlton Barrett

Carlton "Carly" Barrett was an influential reggae drummer and percussion player. After some learning years together with his brother Aston Barrett as a member of the reggae developer Lee "Scratch" Perry's "house band" The Upsetters, he and his brother joined Bob Marley and Wailers Band around 1970....
 , formed the Wailers Band
Wailers Band

The Wailers Band was the backing band for Bob Marley & The Wailers? from 1974 until Bob Marley's death in 1981.Bob Marley originally started singing with The Wailers?, together with among others Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh....
, the backing band of The Wailers.

The Wailers recorded such groundbreaking reggae songs as, "Simmer Down
Simmer Down

"Simmer Down" was the First single released by The Wailers , accompanied by the ska supergroup, The Skatalites, and produced by Clement Dodd in 1963....
", "Trenchtown Rock", "Nice Time", "Stir It Up
Stir It Up

"Stir It Up" is a song composed by Bob Marley in 1967, and first made popular by Johnny Nash, peaking on the United Kingdom chart in June 1972....
", "Get Up, Stand Up
Get Up, Stand Up

"Get Up, Stand Up" is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.The song originally appeared on The Wailers album Burnin' . It was recorded and played live in numerous versions by The Wailers and Bob Marley & The Wailers, along with solo versions by Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer....
", and many others.

The Wailers broke up in 1974, with each of the three main members going on to pursue solo careers. Bob Marley went on to international fame with Bob Marley & The Wailers
Bob Marley & The Wailers

Bob Marley & The Wailers was a reggae band created in 1974 by Bob Marley, after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the precursor band, The Wailers ....
 (with the Wailers Band as the backing band and the I Threes
I Threes

The I Threes were a Jamaican reggae backing band made up of 3 women that was formed in 1974 to support Bob Marley after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, the original Wailer backing vocalists, left the band....
 as the backing vocalists). Peter Tosh had a moderately successful career, while Bunny Wailer remained relatively unknown outside of Jamaica.

Most of the group's members have since died
Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
. Marley died in 1981, Tosh in 1987, Braithwaite in 1999, and recently Smith in 2008. Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, also known as Bunny Livingston , is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh....
 and Beverley Kelso
Beverley Kelso

Beverley Kelso is a Jamaican singer. She was a backing vocalist, and one of the founding members of The Wailers . According to Bob Marley's official website both she and Bunny Wailer are the only surviving members of the original Wailers....
 are the only surviving original members of the group.

The Wailers' Personnel

  • Bunny Livingston/Wailer (1963-1974)
  • Bob Marley
    Bob Marley

    Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley Jamaican Order of Merit was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands: The Wailers and Bob Marley & the Wailers ....
     (1963-1974)
  • Junior Braithwaite
    Junior Braithwaite

    Franklin Delano Alexander Braithwaite, better known as Junior Braithwaite was one of the founders of, and the first lead singer of The Wailers ....
     (1963-1964)
  • Peter McIntosh/Tosh
    Peter Tosh

    Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement....
     (1963-1974)
  • Beverley Kelso
    Beverley Kelso

    Beverley Kelso is a Jamaican singer. She was a backing vocalist, and one of the founding members of The Wailers . According to Bob Marley's official website both she and Bunny Wailer are the only surviving members of the original Wailers....
     (1963-1965) (backing vocal)
  • Cherry Smith
    Cherry Smith

    Cherry Smith was a backing vocalist for the original The Wailers from 1963-1966.According to Bob Marley's official website Bunny Wailer and Beverley Kelso were the only surviving members of the original Wailers until Smith's death....
     (1963-1966) (backing vocal)


External links

  • The Wailers homepage
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers
  • Bob Marley & The wailers 1962-1972
  • The Wailers (Bob, Peter & Bunny)
  • Bob Marley Biography, discography, images, archives, videos (in Spanish)
  • Wailers playing in Downtown Fort Worth